Polishing composition



Patented May 24, 1938 POLISHING COMPOSITION John D. Pickens, rum, Mich.,assignor to E. I. du

Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of DelawareNo Drawing.

4 Claims.

invention relates to wax polishing compositions and more particularly towax polishing compositions having improved luster when applied topainted, lacquered, enameled and the like surfaces. M

Wax polishing compositions are usually prepare dxfromfnatural orsynthetic waxes or ,mix-.

turesthereof such as carnauba, ceresin, candelilla ,;parafiin anddispersed or dissolved in suitable dispersing media or solvents and areof such consistency as to be readilyspread, so as to form a uniformlythin film on the surface to which they are applied. Most of the waxpolishingcompositions as now prepared possess certain defects withregard to the initial luster imparted to the surface to which they areapplied and also with regard to the retention oftheluster. Animprovement in the initial luster as well'as the retention of luster ofwax polishing composi- Q i; tions is therefore highly desirable. v

" f T his invention presents as a principal object theprovision of a waxpolishing composition which produces. a finish possessing improvedluster when applied to the 'surfaceto be polished.

Another object is the provision of a wax polishing composition whichproduces a finish having improved initial lusterand improved retentionof luster in service.

;,{I'hese objects are accomplished according to the present invention bypreparing a wax polishw ing composition comprising usually amixture ofwaxes ofmineral or vegetable origin dispersed in a suitable dispersingmedium. and containing a--;proportion of an acid phthalate ester of analiphatic alcohol of four or more carbon atoms.

The invention is best described by illustrations of preferredcompositions of the improved wax polishing composition. It isunderstood, however, that these compositions are given by way of Thepolishing compositions are best prepared by melting the waxes and addingthe solvent with thorough stirring. The material is then poured insuitable containers and allowed to cool. For optimum results, adherenceto certain specified temperatures in the preparation of the polishingcompositions is desirable. The waxes should be melted by heating and thesolvent should also be heated to such a temperature so that the ad-Application February 27, 1936, Serial No. 66,062 7 mixture of the waxand the solvent will have a temperature of approximately 60 deg. C. atwhich temperature it is poured into containers. The procedure disclosedand claimed in co-pending application S. N. 748,666 filed October 17,1934 in the name of Pickens and Thompson has been found to yieldsatisfactory results.

Example 2 Parts by I Weight Carnauba wax 16 Ceresin wax s 11 Mineralspirits; 71 Lauryl acid phthalate 2 100 Examplea Parts by weightCarnauba waxi 16 Paraflin wax 5 Beeswax 6 Mineral spirits '71 Laurylacid phthalate 2 100 Example 4 Parts by 7 Weight Candelilla wax 16Paraffin wax 11 Mineral spirits 71 Lauryl acid phthalate 2 100 Example 5Parts by weight Carnauba wax 15 Paraifin wax l5 Mineral spirits 68Lauryl acid phthalate 2 100 Example 6 Parts by weight Carnauba wax 16Parafiin wax 11 Citronellol 2 Mineral spirits 69 Lauryl acid phthalate 2In this example it is preferred to melt the waxes and bring thetemperature to 160 deg. C. and the solvent to 20 deg. C. before mixingthe two. The resulting mixture should have a temperature ofapproximately 60 deg. C. before being placed in suitable containers andallowed to cool.

The examples given represent preferred com.- binations of waxes but itis to be understood that other combinations and proportions may be usedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention. Such othercombinations and proportions will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art of preparing wax polishing compositions.

In the examples the use of lauryl acid phthalate is noted as the acidphthalate ester constituent of the compositions. Other acid phthalateesters such as butyl acid phthalate, n-decyl acid phthalate, oleyl acidphthalate, stearyl acid phthalate may be used in place thereof withsatisfactory results. While the amount of the acid phthalate ester inthe examples is noted as 2% it has been found that this percentage isnot particularly critical and amounts from 1 to 6% may be used withsatisfactory results. The use of less than 1% of the acid phthalateester does not give the desired improvement, and amounts greater than 6%are unnecessary.

In general it has been found that the acid phthalate esters of alcoholshaving more than 4 carbon atoms are theonly ones which produce animprovement in the luster imparted by the waxes in which they areincorporated. The neutral esters are not effective nor are the alcoholsthemselves. The acid esters of alcohols having less than 4 carbon atomsare not sufliciently soluble in the solvents or dispersing mediaordinarily employed in preparing the polishing wax compositions to beeffective.

While I do not wish to be bound by any explanation of the theory of myinvention, it appears likely that the acid phthalate ester homogenizesthe wax mixtures, that is, the various constituents of the individualwaxes, thus making the various ingredients more soluble in each otherand in the other waxes which are used to make up the final composition.It is also likely that better adhesion of the wax composition to thesurface to which it is applied is obtained due to the presence of theacid phthalate ester probably through a wetting of the painted,lacquered or enameled surface to which the wax composition is applied. I

Compositions of the present invention are particularly adapted forapplication to painted, lacquered or enameled surfaces to produce apolish possessing a higher luster. The luster produced is an improvementover present types of polishes both as to initial luster and retentionof luster in service. Wax polishing compositions may be also applied towood finishes and other types of finishes as well as to the painted,lacquered and enameled surfaces noted above.

The principal advantage of the composition of the invention is theprovision of wax polishing compositions having improved initial lusterwhen applied to painted, lacquered, enameled and the like surfaces or towood and similar surfaces.

A further advantage is the provision of wax polishing compositions whichwhen applied to suitable surfaces impart a more durable polish than ispractical with present types of similar compositions.

A still further advantage is the provision of wax polishing compositionswhich when applied to suitable surfaces impart a high initial lusterwhich is retained to a much greater degree than present types of waxpolishing compositions.

It is apparent that many widely different embodiments of this inventionmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof; and,therefore, it is not intended to be limited except as indicated in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A liquid wax polishing composition consisting of a wax, a readilyvolatile solvent therefor and 1 to 6% of an acid phthalate alkyl ester,the alkyl group having more than 4 carbon atoms.

2. The composition of claim 1 in which the wax is a mixture of mineraland vegetable waxes.

3. The composition of claim 1 in which the acid phthalate ester isselected from the group consisting of butyl acid phthalate, n-decyl acidphthalate, oleyl acid phthalate, lauryl acid phthalate, and stearyl acidphthalate.

4. A polishing composition having approximately the followingcomposition:

Parts by weight Carnauba wax 16 Paraffin wax 11 Mineral spirits 71Lauryl acid phthalate 2 JOHN D. PICKENS.

